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SoftBank completes all-optical network in core areas in Japan

Fujitsu said the SoftBank deployment included the former’s next-generation optical transmission platform “1 FINITY Ultra Optical System T900”

Japanese telecommunications operator SoftBank recently completed the nationwide deployment, in core areas, of an all-optical network, using a disaggregated architecture optical transmission system that supports open networks, compatriot company Fujitsu said in a release.

The company noted that the deployment included Fujitsu’s next-generation optical transmission platform “1 FINITY Ultra Optical System T900”.

Fujitsu and SoftBank said they aim to contribute to the realization of greener networks by building communication infrastructure with a lower environmental impact.

Fujitsu said that SoftBank’ all-optical network uses optical technology in all areas of the communications network. Also, leveraging Fujitsu’s next-generation optical transmission system, the new network realizes a reduction of power consumption of up to 90% compared to previous networks by connecting to equipment compatible with all optical technology and applying liquid cooling technology. Connected to conventional equipment, the latest photoelectric conversion technology reduces power consumption by about 50% compared to conventional equipment, Fujitsu added.

Using a pair of optical fibers, Fujitsu and SoftBank further improved communication performance, achieving high capacity and high-speed transmission of up to 48.8 Tbps, approximately “twice as high as that of conventional networks,” according to the Japanese company.

“With the introduction of the new optical transmission system, SoftBank aims to build a network that achieves carbon neutrality while meeting the ever-increasing demand for data communication in anticipation of future networks based on Beyond 5G/6G technology,” Fujitsu said.

“Moving forward, Fujitsu and SoftBank will use leading-edge technologies to contribute to the solution of societal problems and contribute to the realization of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” the company added.

Fujitsu claimed its 1FINITY T900 platforms is the first system in the world to use liquid cooling technology in an optical transmission system to significantly improve environmental performance even when connecting to existing devices that are difficult to connect to all optical network devices. As a result, the system realizes cooling efficiency that is two times higher than that of conventional air cooling technology, the company said.

Earlier this month, Fujitsu, Japanese telco KDDI and Cisco Systems announced the recent launch of operations of a metro, regional network that combines the IP layer network and optical transmission layer network for streamlined operations.

Fujitsu explained that the metro network features a configuration that integrates the IP layer and optical transmission layer by using Cisco NCS5500 series routers, which can directly transmit and receive optical signals for WDM and Fujitsu’s 1FINITY series Open Line System (OLS), which can be connected to other companies’ products through an open interface.

The Japanese vendor noted that this approach makes it possible to reduce the number of devices compared to a conventional configuration that connects a router and a transponder for WDM, reducing power consumption by approximately 40%. The new configuration also makes it easier to expand capacity, enabling rapid response to increases in communications traffic, it added. KDDI plans to deploy the metro network across Japan by the end of fiscal 2028.

ABOUT AUTHOR

Juan Pedro Tomás
Juan Pedro Tomás
Juan Pedro covers Global Carriers and Global Enterprise IoT. Prior to RCR, Juan Pedro worked for Business News Americas, covering telecoms and IT news in the Latin American markets. He also worked for Telecompaper as their Regional Editor for Latin America and Asia/Pacific. Juan Pedro has also contributed to Latin Trade magazine as the publication's correspondent in Argentina and with political risk consultancy firm Exclusive Analysis, writing reports and providing political and economic information from certain Latin American markets. He has a degree in International Relations and a master in Journalism and is married with two kids.